Some buildings utilize air purification systems to remove airborne substances such as benzene, formaldehyde, and other contaminants from the air supply. Some of these purification systems include photocatalytic reactors that utilize a substrate or cartridge containing a photocatalyst oxide. When placed under an appropriate light source, typically a UV light source, the photocatalyst oxide interacts with airborne water molecules to form hydroxyl radicals or other active species. The hydroxyl radicals then attack the contaminants and initiate an oxidation reaction that converts the contaminants into less harmful compounds, such as water and carbon dioxide. It is further believed that the combination of water vapor, suitably energetic photons, and a photocatalyst also generates an active oxygen agent like hydrogen peroxide as suggested by W. Kubo and T. Tatsuma, 20 Analytical Sciences 591-93 (2004).
A commonly used UV photocatalyst is titanium dioxide (TiO2), otherwise referred to as titania. Degussa P25 titania and tungsten oxide grafted titania catalysts (such as tungsten oxide on P25) have been found to be especially effective at removing organic contaminants under UV light sources. See U.S. Pat. No. 7,255,831 “Tungsten Oxide/Titanium Dioxide Photocatalyst for Improving Indoor Air Quality” by Wei et al.